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Battleground 2014
Battleground (2014) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It took place on July 20, 2014 at the Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa, Florida. It was the second event under the Battleground chronology, with the event having originated in 2013. Nine matches (including, for the first time ever, two pre-show matches) took place at the event. There were two main events. The first main event saw Seth Rollins defeat Dean Ambrose by forfeit. Ambrose attacked Rollins during a backstage segment until Triple H demanded security to escort Ambrose out the building. Rollins would make his way to the ring and asked the referee for a victory via forfeit. After receiving the victory, Rollins would be attacked by Ambrose, who managed to evade security, including hiding himself in a car's boot and attacking Rollins yet again. The second main event saw John Cena defeat Roman Reigns, Kane and Randy Orton in a fatal 4 way to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Battleground gained mainstream coverage for an in-ring promo made by Lana, manager of Rusev, who – as part of their pro-Russian/anti-American heel gimmicks – made comments prior to Rusev's match against Jack Swagger that some media outlets claimed were veiled references to the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 on July 17, three days before Battleground, where 295 people were killed after the aircraft was shot down over Ukraine by pro-Russian terrorists. The crash itself was not directly mentioned, but Lana's comments blaming the United States for current world events drew negative reaction from the media and fans, and WWE apologized, via TMZ.com, for the in-ring promo and explain that Lana's remarks were part of the ongoing gimmick. Background Battleground featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing feuds, plots, and storylines that played out on WWE's primary television programs. Wrestlers portrayed villains or heroes as they followed a series of events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. At Money in the Bank, John Cena won the ladder match for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship to become a record breaking 12-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion. The next night on Raw, Triple H announced Cena will defend the title at Battleground in a Fatal 4-Way match against Roman Reigns, Kane and Randy Orton. On the [[June 30, 2014 Monday Night RAW results|June 30 edition of Raw]], ''Michael Cole announced that Bad News Barrett suffered an injury on the June 27 edition of SmackDown where he was rammed through the barricade by Jack Swagger. Due to this, he was stripped of the Intercontinental Championship. Cole also announced that there will be a Battleground Battle Royal for the vacant WWE Intercontinental Championship. On the same edition, Cesaro, The Great Khali, Kofi Kingston, and Damien Sandow were added to the battle royal. On the July 1 edition of Main Event, Dolph Ziggler, Rob Van Dam, Ryback, Curtis Axel and Big E were added to the match. On the July 4 edition of SmackDown, Alberto Del Rio and Bo Dallas were added to the match. On the July 7 edition of Raw, Fandango and Sheamus were added to the match. On the July 7 edition of ''Raw, Fandango and Sheamus were added to the match. On the July 14 edition of Raw, Sin Cara, The Miz, Titus O'Neil, Xavier Woods, Zack Ryder, Adam Rose, Heath Slater, R-Truth, and Diego were added to the match. At Battleground, Bad News Barrett will award the Intercontinental Championship to the winner. On the June 30 edition of Raw, Chris Jericho returned to the WWE, but he was attacked by the The Wyatt Family, thus setting up a match between the two at the event. On July 8, WWE.com announced that Jericho will fight against Bray Wyatt at Battleground. On the June 30 edition of Raw, AJ Lee returned to the WWE and defeated Paige for the Divas Championship. On the July 11 edition of Smackdown, it was announced that AJ will defend the title against Paige at the event. Following Money in the Bank, WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos continue their feud with Wyatt Family members Luke Harper and Erick Rowan. On the June 30 edition of Raw, The Wyatt Family defeated The Usos and Sheamus. On the July 7 edition of Raw, Harper and Rowan defeated The Usos. On the July 11 edition of SmackDown, it was announced that The Usos will defend the title against The Wyatt Family in a 2-out-of-3 falls match at the event. On the June 2 edition of Raw, Seth Rollins turned on The Shield by attacking both Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns, siding with The Authority in the process. Rollins and Ambrose have since been attacking each other and interfering each other matches. The feud intensified when Kane assisted Rollins in winning the Money in the Bank ladder match at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view on June 29. On July 12, WWE.com announced that Rollins and Ambrose will be facing each other at Battleground. On the June 30 edition of Raw, Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter confronted Rusev and Lana. Swagger and Colter issued a challenge to Rusev, which was accepted by Rusev on the July 14 edition on Raw. Also confirmed for the event is Cameron squaring off against Naomi, which will take place on the pre-show. After they lost to AJ Lee and Paige on the July 7 edition of Raw, Cameron and Naomi attacked each other, effectively breaking up The Funkadactyls and setting up a match for the event. Results ; ; *Kickoff show: Adam Rose (w/ Layla & Summer Rae) defeated Fandango (1:21) *Kickoff show: Cameron defeated Naomi (3:12) *The Usos (Jimmy Uso & Jey Uso) © defeated The Wyatt Family (Erick Rowan & Luke Harper) in a 2-out-of-3 falls match to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship (18:50) *AJ Lee © defeated Paige to retain the WWE Divas Championship (7:02) *Rusev (w/ Lana) defeated Jack Swagger (w/ Zeb Colter) by Count Out (9:45) *Seth Rollins defeated Dean Ambrose by forfeit *Chris Jericho defeated Bray Wyatt (w/ Luke Harper & Erick Rowan) (15:03) *The Miz defeated Alberto Del Rio, Big E, Bo Dallas, Cesaro. Curtis Axel, Damien Sandow, Diego, Dolph Ziggler, Heath Slater, Kofi Kingston, R-Truth, Ryback, Sheamus, Sin Cara, The Great Khali, Titus O'Neil, Xavier Woods & Zack Ryder in a battle royal to win the vacant WWE Intercontinental Championship (14:11) *John Cena © defeated Randy Orton, Kane, and Roman Reigns in a Fatal 4-Way match to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship (18:16) Other on-screen talent IC Title Battle Royal Elimination Order 1. Xavier Woods (by The Great Khali) 2. Zack Ryder (by The Great Khali) 3. The Great Khali (by everyone) 4. Sin Cara (by Bo Dallas) 5. R-Truth (by Curtis Axel) 6. Curtis Axel (by Damien Sandow) 7. Damien Sandow (by Diego) 8. Diego (by Ryback) 9. Ryback (by Sheamus) 10. Titus O'Neil (by Bo Dallas) 11. Alberto Del Rio (by Dolph Ziggler) 12. Big E (by Cesaro) 13. Kofi Kingston (by Cesaro) 14. Cesaro (by Heath Slater) 15. Heath Slater (by Sheamus) 16. Bo Dallas (by Dolph Ziggler) 17. Sheamus (by Dolph Ziggler) 18. Dolph Ziggler (by The Miz) Also See *List of WWE pay-per-view events *World Wrestling Entertainment/Event history *Money in the Bank *Event gallery DVD release * Battleground 2014 on DVD External links * Battleground 2014 Official Website * Battleground 2014 at CAGEMATCH.net * WWE Battleground 2014 Pre-Show at CAGEMATCH.net * Battleground 2014 at Online World of Wrestling * Kickoff on WWE Network * on WWE Network Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events Category:2014 pay-per-view events Category:Battleground